Chicago Bears, Matt Forte struggle with running game

December 23, 2008|By John Mullin, TRIBUNE REPORTER

The season that began with Matt Forte leading the Bears off the bus running pretty much ended Monday night when Forte and the rest of the rushing offense failed. Failed badly against the 27th-ranked run defense in the NFL.

Remember those 123 yards against Indianapolis that first night of the season? Just a memory, made a little more stinging after the Bengals' Cedric Benson ran for 171 yards Sunday. The Bears certainly don't want Benson back, but they would like to have back some of the Forte they had been getting in the recent weeks of a middling season.

In each of the six games before suffering his toe injury early in the New Orleans game, Forte's combined rushing and receiving yards exceeded 100, including 104 in the first Green Bay game.

But with the season on the line, the offense managed exactly one rushing first down in the first half.

Forte had 12 yards on seven carries in the first quarter, with a long gain of 3. It got worse in the second quarter, when the Bears ran exactly eight plays and put the ball in their franchise back's hands once, for 2 yards.

Three carries in the third quarter were good for just 6 yards, and Forte's long was still just 4 yards. His previous worst in terms of breaking something of size was a long of 5 yards in the second Detroit game.

Whether the Packers, the offensive line or the coaching staff stopped Forte is open to discussion. A team with a stated commitment to the run had just 13 rushes through three quarters, although they had run a total of only 32 plays.

Forte and the running game finally got going late in the fourth. Forte carried five straight times for 44 yards, including a 28-yarder to start the drive. He then gained 2 yards on fourth down for a key first down and another 3 for a touchdown with 3:16 remaining.

The Bears again activated Kevin Jones, providing insurance for Forte's toe and backup Adrian Peterson. Peterson subbed in the third quarter.